Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I have a juvi/subadult ornate box turtle that I've been watching
for the past few days. She has seemed somewhat lethargic, inactive, and wants to soak in her water dish or the mud puddles I make in the turtle pen on hot days, almost 24/7.
It has been very hot here in OK for May, up in the 90s, so
at first I thought it might be the hot weather.

She will eat some and has eaten some every day that I've been
watching. A couple of days ago I noticed that when she walked, she was pretty much dragging herself by her front legs. At first
I worried that she was paralyzed but her back legs do respond to touch and I have seen her move them slightly on her own.

Yesterday we went to a movie and I thought she had been in the water too long so I put her in one of her favorite shady hiding spots. When we got back she had managed to make it three feet to the water bowl and had been able to climb over the 4 inch side of the water bowl.

Last night I brought her in and soaked her in some gatorade.
I had just fed her a june bug which she ate but she seemed a little weaker and I had to keep stuffing the june bug in her mouth and she got it down. But her weakness in eating made me think that I ought to bring her in and give her some gatorade.

She did seem to perk up a little in the gatorade, she definately has periods where she is alert and watching whats going on around her, but she doesn't want to move much.

I read somewhere last night that paralysis of the back legs or reluctance to move the back legs can be a symptom of constipation or an intestinal blockage, or maybe egg binding.

I'm not sure if she's old enough to make eggs yet. She is smaller than my adult female ornates, although I would say she is getting close to adulthood.

Anyway, my finances are not good, but I have a vet I might call tomorrow. So I'd like to do what I can first. Does anyone know of a save laxative for turtles? Would mineral oil mixed in a little baby food chicken be safe? I haven't been able to find anything on the web so far.

If she doesn't improve by tomorrow I may call a vet that has helped me in the past and see what he would charge for an x-ray, but since I can't do it today, I need to try whatever I can at home. Thanks for any info!

Here's a photo of "little yertle" who is to the right of Dottie.
This was taken Wednesday or Thursday when I started kind of worrying about her.

They are very pretty turtles!
Melissa Kaplan has a good article that may help you. Here's the URL
http://www.anapsid.org/constipation.html

The only time I've personally dealt with constipation was on a Sunday during the hottest part of summer when it was too dry here & our sulcata wasn't getting enough moisture. Dripping wet greens fixed the problem for her but that was a pretty superficial problem. Anything more serious than that & I think the vet would be the way I would've gone with her. In fact since this was a Sunday I had planned to call the vet & get her in the next day but the greens solved her problem.

Good luck & let us know what happens.
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PHRatz

Mineral oil is fine, and iceberg lettuce, while nutritionally unsound, is great for hydrating and softening stool... if that indeed is the problem.

Good luck, hope the vet call goes well

Ian